Buda, 1851. Jeromos Hétszáz, a puppet maker living in Óbuda, and his wife, Óguszta, a childless couple, have given refuge to the orphans of those fallen in the war of liberty or jailed, most recently to Pál Penyige and Borbála Derelye. Overjoyed when the chief of police orders fifty straw puppets, they are distressed on learning that the puppets will be publicly hanged in effigy of Lajos Kossuth and the leaders of the war of liberty.